Check out these playful red foxes at the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge. Photo by Robert Dreeszen. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 1/14/16.
The wind and cold don’t bother this baby muskox. Its long, coarse outer fur keeps it waterproof and windproof. Its underfur, qiviut, traps its body heat to keep it very warm. Muskoxen are one of the only large animals hearty enough to survive year-round in the Arctic. Although their populations have fluctuated over the last century, today they number around 3,800 in Alaska – many of them in Bering Land Bridge National Preserve. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 1/20/16.
Manatees, AKA Sea Cows, graze on grasses along the coastal waterways. In a huge win, their population has blossomed under protection while listed as an endangered species, leading the US to propose that they be moved to the “threatened” list. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 1/7/16.
Here’s some serious cute: A mountain goat nanny and kid at Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska. Mountain goats are not true goats at all but belong to the antelope family. The hooves of mountain goats consist of two toes that can move independently from each other, allowing for its stunning agility on steep terrain. Photo by Richard Nelson, National Park Service. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 12/20/15.